FORMULA 1

Antonelli Sparks Mercedes Comeback in Final Test

February 23, 2026
Antonelli Sparks Mercedes Comeback in Final Test

On the third day of testing in Bahrain, Mercedes completed a productive morning session with George Russell behind the wheel. In the afternoon, after a brief delay,Andrea Kimi Antonelli took to the track and set the fastest time of the entire test programme.

Kimi Antonelli: “The tests have not been easy. Due to technical issues, I was barely able to run during the first two days. Today I finally managed to complete a substantial amount of work and nearly finished a full race simulation. It is better that these issues appear now rather than during a Grand Prix the team is already working on solutions. We will try to make up for the lost time in the next testing sessions.”

George Russell: “The third day was significantly more productive it was important for us to recover the time we lost earlier. We were able to complete various run plans with different fuel levels and carry out several long stints. It has been a challenging week due to reliability concerns, but the car felt more stable today. Our competitors have clearly made progress, so thorough preparation for the final test session before Melbourne is essential.”

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